Kinda need the PPD to do their job in order to prosecute. They have to solve cases.

"The increase in gun violence coincided with other concerning gun-related trends. As gun violence surged over the last six years, clearance rates — the share of cases solved by the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) — for homicides and non-fatal shootings declined. In 2020, just 37% of fatal shootings were cleared by the PPD. At the same time, the number of individuals arrested for illegal gun possession increased by more than 100% between 2015 and 2020."

From: https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/data-release-gun-violence-trends/

Lots of admin bloat:

"Of PPD’s approximately 6,000 total officers, only 2,500 are assigned to patrol. In addition to officers assigned to specialized units, many officers (not officers on limited duty) are assigned to positions that conduct administrative work, such as delivering mail. The review found that PPD did not have formalized job descriptions for all positions, making it difficult to assess whether positions could be done by a civilian instead of an officer, a process called civilianization."

From: https://controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/ppd-review/#/executive-summary

Fun anecdote:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1585709871781089280.html